A three-policy approach to provide services and protect more than 1.2 million Cambodian migrant workers working abroad was announced yesterday by the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training.
According to the ministry, the three-policy approach consists of strengthening services provided by Cambodian Embassies abroad which will work closely with foreign companies to look after the interests of migrant workers.
The ministry said that the second policy was to strengthen the mechanism for inspection of private recruitment agencies to ensure recruitment was transparent, effective and protected Cambodian workers.
The third policy would see the ministry provide support for migrant workers by facilitating the processing of work documents, legal protection, emergency intervention, and regular visits by Cambodian embassy officials while abroad.
According to the ministry, from 2018 to 2022 it has intervened in and solved 14,851 cases related to issues affecting Cambodian migrant workers.
It added that during the COVID-19 pandemic, the ministry also provided medical and food assistance to disadvantaged workers in Thailand.
The government has also worked to strengthen and expand cooperation with other countries by helping to find additional employment opportunities for Cambodian migrant workers who remit about $2.7 billion per year.
Katta Orn, Ministry of Labour spokesman, said yesterday that Thailand employs the lion’s share of the more than 1.2 million Cambodian migrant workers with several other countries employing about 125,000 workers.
He added that Thailand employs 1,248,245 migrant workers, 22,572 in Malaysia, 21,654 in Saudi Arabia, Japan has 20,812, Singapore 8,646, South Korea 50,225, and Hong Kong has about 216.
He said that there are 262,418 working in the agriculture sector, 565,810 in the industrial sector, 378,621 in construction, 16,709 as domestic help and 119,405 in various other jobs.
He added that Cambodian workers in Thailand earn on average about $400 per month, Malaysia $340, Saudi Arabia $400, Japan $1,400, Singapore $500, South Korea $1,500 and in Hong Kong they earn about $591.
Source: https://www.khmertimeskh.com/